Adventures in Color Magic

Note: in the world of Llagnyn, humans slaves to the Faire Folk who rule them. This story takes place in the Shattered Land of Grallyb.
Context: when this was written, color features were just added to Freemen accounts.

Kryn flew downstairs into her apartment's kitchen. Her human, a middle-aged woman, stood in front of a prepared breakfast with a blank expression. Good. They were bothersome to replace. She hastily ate the meal and rushed outside. She flew to the chromacenter and landed outside the door. She checked her arm. Just made it. She pushed open the door and stepped inside.

"Kryn Llabnym?" a woman to her left asked.

"Yes," she hastily responded.

"Welcome. Try to be here earlier in your further days of teaching."

"Yes, ma'am" This was a prestigous position to achieve. She was not going to waste it by being impolite.

The woman led her through a door into a vestibule of many doorways. "So you wish to wield color magic. Very well. Be warned, it can be dangerous if used improperly. My name is Vwyb, and I will instruct you along your journey."

The woman walked to a door with scarlet paint. "Color magic is divided by Hue. Every Hue has its own use and abilities. We will start with Red."

She opened the door, and the two of them entered.[/color]

"The first thing to note is that every Hue has its inverse. You must be grounded in this inverse to not be swept away with the power of the Hue. The inverse to Red is Magenta. Know Magenta before you attempt Red, and know Red before you attempt Magenta."

"But... How am I supposed to know either if I need to know its inverse first?" interjected Kryn.

"Very good. You will experience both in minor amounts and gradually work your way up to full power. You will acheive mastery of both Hues together. Let us sit down." She gestured at two chairs set in the middle of the bright red room. Kryn noted that the chairs were magenta.

"The chairs are Magenta," she said. "That is to keep us grounded?"

"Correct". They sat.

"Red magic deals with a person's emotions. In using it, you can manipulate the emotions of people and humans around you. On the flip side, Magenta magic can control someone's actions, but leaves their mental state alone. You can only use one of them at a time. Never use a Hue and its inverse at the same time, or you'll be twice as susceptible to being carried away by the power than if you had no grounding in an inverse at all. To use the Hue, you must first harvest White from your wingtips. Your wings are always producing magic, and by bringing your hand along them as such," she trailed her hand upward along the edge of her right wing, "you can harvest White." She held up her hand to show a bright, colorless ball of energy cupped inside. "White is Hueless. Through concentration, you can focus your magic into the Hue you desire. Red is one of the easiest, but as you get closer to Magenta, it takes more focus to get your desired Hue. Try it yourself."

Kryn reached out to her left wing, and tried to feel an energy. As she trailed it over the edge, she felt a tingling in her fingers. When she got to the edge, she withdrew her hand and was delighted to see a small ball of White energy there.

"Good. Now concentrate on it, think of the Hue you want, the area you which to manipulate."

Kryn focused on Red, on her own emotions and on trying to affect Vwyb's. As she watched, the energy started to gain color, deepening to a vibrant scarlet.

"Very good. Now make me cry."

Kryn started, and the ball in her hands vanished. "What?"

"Make me cry. You want to learn color magic? You need to practice it on someone, and this building is too dangerous to bring slaves into. You've also broken your concentration. Be careful of that. This room is equipped to absorb lost magic, but in a contemporary setting, it can be very dangerous to let free. Some of that magic has undoubtedly gone back into you, and you can reharvest it along with more of your own magic. I can see the power within you. there's still a lot more left than that small ball. However, I would caution you to not take much more than you just did, as you still need practice to control it."

Kryn reached out to her left wing again, and brought back another ball of White energy, a little bigger than before. Then, bringing it to Red, she concentrated on Vwyb. She thought of her thoughts, of how she wanted her to feel. Instinctually, she raised her cupped right hand and directed it toward Vwyb. She concentrated harder, trying to make her feel sadness. She gritted her teeth, then suddenly ripped her fingers open. She looked at Vwyb, who she saw to be smiling through a river of tears.

"That was strong. Good. But you used all your power at once. Now you need to learn to keep it steady. None of your power will do any good if it burns out instantly. Take some more magic and enter the same position as before."

She did.

"Good. Now bring up your other hand in front of the magic and spread your fingers. You can filter the energy coming through by changing the distance between your fingers, and thus change the duration of your effect. You can also make your energy more subtle by closing your fingers completely and letting it slowly trickle out. Otherwise, you change the duration and scale by increasing or decreasing the size of your magic."

Kryn tried it, and opened the fingers on her right hand as before. Instead of going instantly, the Red ball slowly dwindled down as Vwyb's tears streamed down her face.

"You're doing well, but remember to balance yourself. If you lean too far into the power... let's just say you don't want that to happen. As you think of what emotions you want me to feel, think strongly of Magenta also. It will stop you from drifting away in your power."

They practiced a few more times, then Vwyb stood up. "You are doing well. Tomorrow we will begin with orange. Return home and eat and sleep a lot. It will restore your magic and your focus."

The next day, they entered a room identical to the last, but with orange walls and blue chairs.

"Orange magic focuses on form. Through harnessing it, you can manipulate the shape of anything you see. Its opposite is Blue, the change of something's material."

Vwyb took a green ball out of her pocket, and held it up in front of her.

"I want you to manipulate the shape of this ball. Make it become a cube, or if you find that too difficult, at least try to flatten a side."

Kryn took a new ball of magic and, focusing, changed it to Orange. Then she aimed it at the ball and thought of how she wanted it to change. She felt the energy blast out, and looked up. On the chair in front of her was a square block of fleshy tones, with a lattice of green lines the same color as Vwyb's wings on the back. The ball dropped to the floor.

Kryn's hands flew to her mouth. No. This couldn't be happening. "Vwyb?" There was no response. "Help!" she cried out, "Someone help!"

She ran out of the room, into the vestibule with the many doors. She looked around, but without Vwyb's guidance, she was unsure where any door led to. She frantically looked for any clue, then decided to take a door at random. She opened one, then fell into a pit of blackness.

Colors and lines and brights and darks flew past her as she fell. She soon became dizzy, and was unable to comprehend what was happening. Thoughts rushed through her mind. Vwyb. She had forgotten to filter her power. It was all her fault. Her, flying through the castle as a child, laughing with pure joy at the very feel of it. Her human slave, turning from the counter and looking straight at her. There was anger in those eyes. Were human even capable of such a thing?

Kryn hit the bottom and blacked out.

Vwyb walked upto Kryn's body. That was unfortunate. She always disliked when that happened to her. And what had possessed the girl to go into Ultraviolet, of all places? The magic of the Thought were too advanced for her current capabilities. It would take weeks of rehabilitation before they could continue again, and probably a larger time before they could move on to th next basic colors of Darkness and Undersight.

"Do not beat yourself up Vwyb."

She turned sharply. Shralg. She grabbed Kryn and launched herself upwards.

"Stay. Don't you want to know what was so interesting in the girl's mind?"

Vwyb landed on the top platform and wrenched the door open.

"I know why you chose her. I know what she holds."

Vwyb ran through the door and closed it behind her. She could not let the Yll of energy near Kryn. His control of the Infrared was too great for her as she was now. But maybe someday... She pushed Shralg's words out of her mind. Concentrating on Undersight, she located the ward and brought Kryn to it. For now, all kryn was able to do was rest.